Package



P 1963 v D. cs. NELSON 3,378,172

PACKAGE Filed July 21, 1966 .zs INVENTOR. 4 DAVID 6f /V4so1-/.

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United States Patent 3,378,172 PACKAGE David G. Nelson, Richmond, Ind., assignor to Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed July 21, 1966, Ser. No. 566,935 Claims. (Cl. 222-153) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A package having a primary closure and a cover cap, the cover cap having an edge portion attached to a container and a body portion with inwardly directed ribs, the body and edge portion being connected only by spaced bridges. The upper end of the container has an outwardly directed shoulder that cooperates with the ribs in the body of the cover cap to resist lifting the cover cap from the container.

This invention relates to a package and concerns a container and closure combination including a primary closure and a secondary closure serving as a cover cap and reclosure for the package.

A type of container for which my improvement is particularly adapted is one in which the upper end is double seamed at its edge to the container wall and has a central opening above the edge. The primary closure is provided for the central opening and may be any type of dispensing closure such as, in the case of a pressurized container, a permanently secured dispensing valve structure. The secondary closure or cover cap is provided to improve the appearance of the package and to prevent accumulation of dust on and around the primary closure, and while it need only be large enough to cover the primary closure, this cover cap preferably is attached at the double seam and has a relatively wide flat top to serve as a stacking surface.

Several problems have attended the use of this type of package. If the secondary closure is easy to remove, it is subject to accidental removal in transportation and necessary handling and intentional removal by shoppers in selfservice stores. The latter is particularly-true in the case of pressurized containers, since shoppers are prone to re moving the cover to test the dispensing valve. Therefore, it is desirable that the secondary closure have some means to indicate that it has been removed. Adaptations of the type of telltale means disclosed in the expired Patent No. 2,066,708, comprising a plurality of frangible bridges between slits in the closure material, have been tried for this purpose. However, this expedient has been subject to its own disadvantages. The slits admit dust under the secondary closure, and, if the bridges are made strong enough to resist removal of the secondary closure by accident or mere idle testing, their fracture leaves tangs of such size as to cut the fingers of the user, unless so placed in a re-entrant or recessed part of the closure that they are hard to see and their fracture not readily discernible to the eye.

It is an object of my invention to provide a package comprising a container, primary closure, and secondary closure in which the problems of prior art devices of this sort are overcome.

More particularly, an object is to provide such a secondary closure having a reclosure portion or cap integral with but severable from a locking band so secured as to remain on the container as evidence of removal of the reclosure portion.

A further object is to provide a structure by reason of which the reclosure portion of the secondary closure is severable initially from the blocking band only by appli- 3,378,172 Patented Apr. 16, 1968 cation of sufiicient force that the possibility of accidental displacement is minimized and intentional removal is impeded.

Another and further object is to provide such a package in which the severable connections of the reclosure portion to the locking band can be designed so as not to endanger the fingers of the user and can be placed so that their severance is readily detectable by the eye and that the slits between connections will not impair the dustrepelling function of the secondary closure.

Other and further objects and advantages will be apparent in the following description of a container of the pressurized type to which my invention is particularly adaptable, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a container with the secondary closure secured thereon;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the secondary closure before being placed on the container;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the container with the primary closure, in the form of a dispensing valve assembly, in place, and with the secondary closure secured to the container;

FIG. 3a is an enlarged fragmentary view of that portion of FIG. 3 within the circle;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the package;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view showing a modification of my invention; and

FIG. 5a is an enlarged fragmentary view of that portion of FIG. 5 within the circle.

The container body 10 has an upper end and a bottom end. The upper end 11 is secured to the container body by means of a double seam so as to present a head 12 outstanding from the can wall and upstanding from the edge of the end 11, which has a raised central opening in which a dispensing valve 13 or any suitable closure is secured. A shoulder 14 is also provided in the end 11 between the central opening and the head 12.

The cover cap or secondary closure, as shown in FIG. 2, has a flat top 15 and cylindrical side wall or body 16. The lower end of the secondary closure body has a reverse bend to provide an upstanding wall portion 17 and a depending cylindrical skirt 18. The closure body 16 near its bottom is deformed inwardly to provide ribs 19. The

' metal along the top of the ridge 20 between the wall portion 17 and skirt 18 is slit through except at a series of connecting bridges 21 between the slits 22.

When the secondary closure of this construction is first applied to the container, the ribs 19, by reason of the resiliency of the material, snap into position under the shoulder 14, and the wall 17, skirt 18 and ridge 20 closely engage double seam 12. The edge of the skirt 18 is then secured tightly under the scam 12. This is done by a conventional closure applying operation, such as by spinning the edge of the skirt under the seam by means of rollers.

The reclosable portion of the secondary closure is removed from the container by grasping it and pulling directly upward or, more naturally, by a combined turning and lifting of the reclosable portion relative to the container, to break the bridges 21. The tight engagement of the skirt 1'8 with the seam 12 and the bearing of the ribs 19 under the shoulder 14 provide frictional and interference resistance to this movement and this resistance makes removal difiicult enough that accidental removal is virtually impossible and removal through mere idle handling and testing of the package is unlikely.

Without the frictional resistance given by this construction, any comparable resistance to initial removal could be achieved only by widening the bridges 21, and the severing of such wide bridges would leave sharp tangs which could cut the fingers of the user. With the construction of the invention, the bridges can be made so narrow as substantially to eliminate the danger, so that the bridges can be located on the ridge 20, where the eye can readily detect whether they are intact or severed and Where, since the ridge lies close against the seam 12, the slits 22 between bridges will not provide passages into the space under the cap.

In the form of the invention shown on the drawings, I provide five ribs 19 and five bridges 21. This arrangement has been proved to be satisfactory and may be optimum on standard size aerosol containers, but my invention is not limited as to the number of bridges and ribs. Different numbers of bridges may be preferable for other sizes of containers.

Moreover, my invention includes a construction in which the secondary closure is merely large enough to cover the primary closure or dispensing valve, such a structure being shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 5a. Here the container end 22 is formed with two shoulders 24 and 25, corresponding in function, so far as association with the closure is concerned, with seam 12 and shoulder 14 respectively. The secondary closure differs from that previously described only in relative size, and the parts are similarly secured by engagement of the ribs 19 with shoulder 25 and of the skirt 18 with shoulder 24.

The foregoing description of the invention will suggest to those skilled in the art various changes, substitutions and other departures from any disclosure, within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A package comprising a container body having an upper end and a bottom end with the upper end having a central opening,

a closure for said central opening, and

a secondary closure having an edge portion securely engaging the upper end of the container and a body portion having inwardly directed ribs spaced laterally inwardly of the edge portion and being connected to said edge portion only by spaced bridges,

said upper end of the container having an outwardly directed shoulder spaced laterally inwardly from said secondary closure edge portion cooperating with said ribs in the body of the secondary closure to resist lifting of the secondary closure from the container body.

2. A pressurized package comprising a container body having an upper end and a bottom end with the upper end having a central opening,

a dispensing valve for said central opening, and

a secondary closure having an edge portion securely engaging the upper end of the container and a body portion having inwardly directed ribs spaced laterally inwardly from the edge portion and being connected to said edge portion only by spaced bridges,

said upper end of the container having an outwardly directed shoulder spaced laterally inwardly from said secondary closure edge portion cooperating with said ribs in the body of the secondary closure to resist lifting of the secondary closure from the container body.

3. A package comprising a container body having a bottom end and an upper end,

said upper end being securely attached to the container body by an edge bead and having a central opening and a shoulder spaced laterally inwardly from said edge bead,

a closure for said central opening, and

a secondary closure having an edge portion securely engaging said edge bead and a body portion having inwardly directed ribs spaced laterally inwardly from the edge portion and being connected to said edge portion of the secondary closure only by spaced bridges,

said ribs of the body of the secondary closure being engaged beneath the shoulder of the upper end of the container to resist direct lifting of the secondary closure from the container.

4. A package according to claim 3, wherein the bridges overlie the edge head.

5. A pressurized package comprising a container body having a bottom end and an upper end, said upper end being securely attached to the container body by an edge bead and having a central opening and a shoulder spaced laterally inwardly from said edge bead,

a dispensing valve for said central opening, and

a secondary closure having an edge portion securely engaging said edge bead and a body portion having inwardly directed ribs spaced laterally inwardly from the edge portion and being connected to said edge portion of the secondary closure only by spaced bridges overlying the edge head,

said ribs of the body of the secondary closure being engaged beneath the shoulder of the upper end of the container to resist direct lifting of the secondary closure from the container.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,032,234 5/1962 Taylor 222-182 X 3,170,602 2/1965 Svellentrop et al. 222541 X 3,223,287 12/1965 Sargarin 222-153 ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

HADD S. LANE, Examiner. 

